Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

264

Dūshāgah-īziyār-isafarkardadādbād

mannīzdilbi-bāddahamharchibādbād.(line1)

Lastnightthewindbroughtamementofromthatfriendwhojourneyed

away

I,too,willgivemyhearttothewind–queserasera!

Todaythepoetrealizesthatthosewhoareclosetohim,andhadcounselledhim
againstgivinghishearttothebeloved,weregivinggoodadvice(line4).Themorn-
ingbreezegiveshopeofreunionandbringsbacktolifetheloverwhoseweakbody
hadalmostceasedtoexist(line6).
ButwearestillsomewhatfarfromtheAlbatradition.Perhapsthecenturyofthe
AlbahadpassedbythetimeḤāfiẓwrotehisghazals.Ifthatisthecase,ittestifiesto
thedynamismofthetradition,which,thoughhighlyconventionalinmanyways,is
discardingorre-arrangingcertainearliermotifsandgeneratingnewones.Ifthatis
notthecaseandwecanfindevidenceofAlbapoemsinthecontemporariesofḤāfiẓ,
thenwemaysimplynotethatḤāfiẓfoundthetoposuninterestingorclichéd.Ifwe
havecomeupshortinoursearchforAlbapoemsinḤāfiẓ,whatthencanwesay
abouthismythopoeisisofthedawn?
Charles-Henri de Fouchécour’sLa Description de la nature, a seminal study of
natureinthepoetryof‛Unṣurī,Farrukhī,Manūchihrī,Qaṭrān,AzraqīandMu‛izzī,^26
hasshownustheutility,indeedthenecessity,oflookingdiachronicallyandsyn-
chronicallyatcataloguesofrelatedimagesandtopoiinPersianpoetry.Notonly
doesthisprocesshelpustounderstandthetradition’ssymbolsbetterandmore
precisely,bringingthesemioticcontoursofvariousnaturalsettingsandtopoiin
Persianpoetryintosharperrelief,italsoenablesustoperceivemoreclearlythe
particularities with which individual poets invest certain conventional topoi,
themes and, indeed, genres. Some of the items and features of the landscape
Fouchécourdescribesobviouslycollocatewiththelargersceneandsettingofdawn.
Althoughthefullrangeofauroralmotifsarenottypicallyinvokedwholesaleinany
givenghazal,assoonasonesuchmotifisinvoked,thepoetmaypotentiallychoose
toamplifyanddevelopthisonemotifbyevokinganotheroftheassociatedimages,
charactersandideasintheauroralcatalogue.Fortheghazal,thiscataloguemay
includethemorningbreeze,orzephyr,thatwaftsfromtheeast/north-eastinthe
springtime(ṣabā);^27 thebrightnessofday;theappearanceofthebelovedorthe
arrival/dispatchofamessagetohimorher;thefragranceandfreshnessofthegar-
den;theappearanceoftherose;acallfromthewinetavern;amorningdraughtof
wine;prayer;andsoon.Fouchécour’scollectionofdataandsummarydescriptionof
thecatalogueofimagesoccursmostlyinthePersianqaṣīdapoetrywrittenabout
twocenturiesprecedingḤāfiẓ,butwillneverthelessprovideuswithaframeofref-
erencebywhichwecananticipateahorizonofexpectationsforthevariousclusters
ofimageryinthecorpusofḤāfiẓ,suchasthetimesandseasonsoftheyearand
theirassociatedfestivals;thenightingale(bulbul,‛andalīb)andbirdsmoregenerally

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry